JetBlue Card review

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: 3X points on eligible JetBlue purchases, 2X points at restaurants and grocery stores and 1X points on all other purchases
• Welcome offer: 10,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days
• Annual fee: $0
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0% for first 12 billing cycles for transfers posted within first 45 days
• Regular APR: 16.24%, 20.24% or 25.24% variable

Current welcome offer

The JetBlue Card boasts a modest welcome offer of 10,000 points when you spend $1,000 within your first 90 days. By spending and paying off just more than $333 each month for three months, you can unlock your 10,000 points. You can also earn these points through any purchases, so you’re not limited in how you can spend.

Overall, the bonus is on the low side compared to other cards, but it’s not difficult to earn, either. According to Bankrate’s latest valuations, JetBlue TrueBlue Rewards points are worth roughly 1.4 cents apiece. While this is more than the standard 1-cent-per-point redemption value you’ll find on many rewards cards, it’s low compared to the average value of some other cards’ rewards. Based on this valuation, the JetBlue Card’s current 10,000-point welcome offer is worth roughly $140 when redeemed, but this will vary based on flight availability.

To put this into perspective, you can find last-minute flights on Jetblue.com from as low as 13,300 points. While the 10,000 points from the welcome bonus wouldn’t cover this fare completely, the points you’d earn from meeting the spending requirement may make up the difference. For instance, if you spent $1,100 on JetBlue purchases in your first 90 days you’d earn 3,300 points via card spend and 10,000 points from the bonus for a total of 13,300 points.

Rewards

You can earn rewards from all of your purchases with the JetBlue Card, making it a potentially solid choice for families that value simplicity, travel primarily with JetBlue and don’t want to hold more than one credit card. The card’s 2X points for purchases made at restaurants and grocery stores is a decent rate and likely makes the card a more practical choice than many airline cards that only offer bonus rewards on travel purchases.

That said, the card earns rewards at a slow rate compared to some other options.

Earning rewards

You’ll earn the bulk of your points with JetBlue purchases at a rate of 3 points per dollar. Restaurants and grocery stores will earn you 2X the points per dollar, and all other purchases will earn you 1 point per dollar. In addition, cardholders can earn additional points through the JetBlue TrueBlue Dining rewards program. This awards you with 3 miles per dollar you spend at any of the roughly 10,000 eligible restaurants. The JetBlue Shopping Portal will also net you extra points when you make purchases via the portal.

Redeeming rewards

You can redeem your JetBlue rewards only on JetBlue flights, though JetBlue’s alliance with American Airlines will make it possible to redeem TrueBlue points for American Airline flights soon. To redeem, you simply log in to your TrueBlue account and choose your flight. There are no blackout dates, points never expire and there are no redemption fees. Simply choose what works for you and you’re set.

With the JetBlue Card the value of your points is tied directly to the cost of the flight. So, more expensive tickets will use more points and cheaper flights will help you save on points.

JetBlue Card benefits are pretty standard as far as no-annual-fee travel credit cards go. In addition to programs that earn you extra points, there are also benefits that can help you save money and protect you from fraud.

In-flight discounts

When you fly with JetBlue and use your card, you can save 50 percent on inflight cocktails and food purchases. Whether you’re flying alone or with family, you’ll be able to make your snacks go farther. This is one of the card’s best benefits, but you’ll need to be a specific kind of patron to take advantage of it. Infrequent flyers may not be as interested in in-flight purchases as those who fly more often. However, if you’re traveling with your family this could be a nice benefit to curb the cost of snacks and drinks in-flight.

Rewards pooling

Of the JetBlue credit card perks, the ability to pool rewards with family members is pretty great. That means you can accumulate points faster and help support your card-holding family members. Who gets to reap the rewards will be up to your discretion.

Fraud liability protection

With the JetBlue Card, you’ll have $0 fraud liability. This means you won’t be liable for any fraudulent transactions, which adds an extra layer of comfort to purchasing.

If you’re looking to rack up mileage without an annual fee, the JetBlue Card is not a bad choice. Despite this, the variable APR can be quite high. At the lowest, you’ll still be paying 16.24 percent variable APR. At most, you could be looking at a 25.24 percent variable APR. However, if you make a balance transfer in the first 45 days of card membership you will pay 0 percent APR for 12 billing cycles on the balance transferred (16.24 percent to 25.24 percent variable APR thereafter). There’s also a standard balance transfer fee of $5 or 5 percent, whichever is greater. You won’t earn any rewards points for transfers, but it can help you pay down some debt if you need to.

Cash advances, on the other hand, are likely not the best way to use your card. You will not earn rewards points on them and the variable APR is 25.49 percent.

As with most travel cards, if you travel outside of the country, you won’t have to deal with foreign transaction fees.

Stephanie Zito, Bankrate’s Travel Rewards Expert Contributor, states that:

“The JetBlue Card offers a simple avenue to earn some extra points in JetBlue’s straightforward TrueBlue points program without any annual fee. The signup bonus of 10,000 points is enough to get you a round trip on a domestic short haul, or one way from the East Coast to the Caribbean when it’s not high season.”

— Stephanie Zito, Bankrate contributor

One of the JetBlue Card benefits is that you don’t have to spend tons of money to get the most bang for your buck. It’s geared toward your average flyer, but is ideal for those who fly JetBlue exclusively.

The JetBlue Card vs. the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a similarly structured travel rewards credit card. You’ll earn 1.25X the miles per dollar on all purchases and you only need to spend $500 to unlock the welcome offer of 20,000 bonus miles within the first three months. According to our latest valuations, Capital One miles are valued at roughly 2 cents per point on average, so they’re likely more valuable than TrueBlue points. Plus, Capital One miles are not tied to a single airline, so you can redeem them on any flight you want in the issuer’s portal.

A general travel rewards card like the VentureOne may be a better choice for travelers who aren’t loyal to a certain airline and who spend across a range of categories to take advantage of the card’s flat-rate rewards.

The JetBlue Card vs. The Delta SkyMiles Blue American Express Card

If you’re looking at airline cards, the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card offers similar benefits and you can redeem rewards with Delta or transfer to one of its 15 travel partners. When it comes to airline loyalty cards, Delta’s portfolio has something for everyone and should certainly be on your radar. Currently, Delta SkyMiles are valued at 1.3 cents per point, according to our valuations. While that’s slightly higher than TrueBlue points, you may still earn more rewards with the JetBlue card thanks to its more lucrative rewards rate.

The Delta SkyMiles Blue card earns just 2X points on Delta purchases (versus 3X on JetBlue purchases with the JetBlue card) and 2X points at restaurants worldwide, but only 1X points at grocery stores (versus 2X on the JetBlue card).

If rewards are important to you, then you might want to consider a card with an annual fee. You’ll need to be sure you spend enough in the card’s bonus categories to offset the fee, but it may come with some nice benefits that cards with no annual fees don’t have.

Best cards to pair with the JetBlue Card

If you’re planning on staying loyal to JetBlue, consider pairing this card with a cash back card that earns at a flat-rate. You’ll be able to earn miles when needed, and you can also earn cash back on your everyday expenses to help pay for a trip or two. Supplementing your spending with a flat-rate rewards card like the Wells Fargo Active Cash® can give you a lot of room in your card strategy to both maximize rewards and the cash rewards you earn back for spending. Earning 2% back for spending in categories other than those you use your JetBlue card for will be a great way to cushion your travel spending when the time comes.

This standard JetBlue Card is a good option for infrequent flyers who still want to supplement their JetBlue flights. It’s not the most luxurious option and isn’t the best choice for your main credit card, but it can add to your travel. If you are a true JetBlue loyalist, however, you might want to consider opting for the JetBlue Plus Card.

If you’re looking for a more rewarding card that provides you with flexibility, then there are better options. If you instead opt for a general travel card, you can earn more points across multiple categories and enjoy more redemption variety.

The information about the JetBlue Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.